Organizing Committees - National Federation of Federal Employees

Federal
Employees
Organizing Program
Organizing Committees
Tab #2
Dave Miskolczi
Organizing Committees
Overview
• Official Circular 768 – Organizing in the
IAM
• Establishing a District, Council, and/or Local Lodge
Organizing Committees (LOC)
• Local Organizing Committee Functions
• Local Organizing Committee Structure
• LOC Member Profile (Who)
• Recruiting LOC Members (How)
• The “Ugly” Reality of the Field
• Identifying and Overcoming the Barriers to
Organizing
IAMAW – William W. Winpisinger Education and Technology Center – Federal Employees Organizing Program
Organizing Committees
Objectives
• Familiarity with the establishment, structure,
functions, recruiting, and staffing of a
District/Council/Local Lodge Organizing
Committee.
• Identify and develop strategies for overcoming the
barriers to establishing LOCs in the field.
• Ultimately - - the goal of the class is to foster the
creation of proactive LOCs committed to growing
the membership & strengthening NFFE/IAMAW..
IAMAW – William W. Winpisinger Education and Technology Center – Federal Employees Organizing Program
Organizing Committees
Official Circular 768 - Overview
This circular • Requires each GVP to designate a Territorial
Organizing Leader (TOL)
• Specifies the duties of the TOL
• Facilitates the assignment of GLRs to Districts &
Locals for the purpose of organizing
• Outlines the duties and responsibilities of the GL
Organizing Department
• Requires each DBR to establish an on-going
organizing program
IAMAW – William W. Winpisinger Education and Technology Center – Federal Employees Organizing Program
Organizing Committees
Official Circular 768 - Overview
This circular -
• Requires that every district and local lodge establish an
Organizing Committee and forward the names & addresses of
LOC members to the Resident GVP @ GL
• Update LOC roster annually to IP, Territorial GVP, and GL
Organizing Department
• Annual status report from DL and LL to Territorial GVP and
GL Organizing Department concerning activity
• Territorial GVPs to ensure timely submission of status
reports
• Permanent item on the Executive Council’s agenda
IAMAW – William W. Winpisinger Education and Technology Center – Federal Employees Organizing Program
Organizing Committees
Establishing an LOC
• LOCs can be can be established by:
• adoption of bylaws creating a Committee
• formal action (adoption of a motion made at a regular
meeting) of the Lodge
• The Local Lodge President has the authority
(IAMAW Constitution Art. C Sec. 1) to “… appoint
committees not otherwise provided for…” – this
language means not otherwise provided for in the
IAM Constitution, local lodge bylaws, or specific
formal action of the local lodge.
IAMAW – William W. Winpisinger Education and Technology Center – Federal Employees Organizing Program
Organizing Committees
Organizing Committees Matter!
Two key findings from the AFL-CIO:
• effective committee election win rate
NO
10%
YES
62%
• committee size as
% of workforce
5%
15%
election win rate
27%
61%
IAMAW – William W. Winpisinger Education and Technology Center – Federal Employees Organizing Program
Organizing Committees
Common Functions
• Provides and develops leadership - organizing
• Explains, demonstrates, and asserts our legal
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•
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•
•
rights to organize
Answers co-workers' questions
Quickly counteracts agency/management
propaganda
Distributes NFFE/IAMAW leaflets & newsletters
Produces its own agency specific flyers & leaflets
Holds inclusive, democratic planning meetings
IAMAW – William W. Winpisinger Education and Technology Center – Federal Employees Organizing Program
Organizing Committees
Common Functions
• Holds occasional formal "question & answer"
•
•
•
•
•
meetings
Holds informal meetings [parking lot gatherings,
house parties, picnics, etc.]
Signs co-workers up on authorization cards
Compiles complete address lists of all co-workers
Establishes dependable e-mail communication
system
Establishes a dependable telephone tree network
IAMAW – William W. Winpisinger Education and Technology Center – Federal Employees Organizing Program
Organizing Committees
Common Functions
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•
•
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Documents potentially illegal agency actions
Creates optimism and generates energy
Promotes a sense of ownership in the local
“Spreads the word" to other facilities and helps
them establish new Organizing Committees
• Communicates & coordinates horizontally with
other nearby Committees
• Communicates & coordinates vertically with FD 1
and/or Council Organizing Committees
IAMAW – William W. Winpisinger Education and Technology Center – Federal Employees Organizing Program
Organizing Committees
Other Common Functions
• Union organizing campaigns, like political elections,
are won or lost by the side that is able to define
the issues or 'dominate the flow of information.'
• Information flows in several ways:
• Face-to-face conversations
• Formal – with a specific purpose in mind
• Informal – casual contact – “talking union”
• Printed material – brochures, flyers,
• Electronic media – web pages, e-mail, blogs?
IAMAW – William W. Winpisinger Education and Technology Center – Federal Employees Organizing Program
Organizing Committees
Structure of the Committee
Ideally, the LOC should be a representative group in
as many ways as possible, including:
• All departments & work areas - anywhere a group
of employees could be considered to be in some
way separated from other groups.
• Each shift of each work area should have a
Committee member.
• A mixture of all classifications. The Committee
especially should combine higher wage classes with
lower wage classes.
IAMAW – William W. Winpisinger Education and Technology Center – Federal Employees Organizing Program
Organizing Committees
Structure of the Committee
• Many agencies discriminate in various ways against
women and people of color. The Organizing
Committee should be representative of the diversity
in the unit.
• Young employees and new hires have different
concerns than those near retirement - all should be
represented.
• The Committee should have enough structure that
time isn't wasted getting through meetings or in
deciding who will do what task.
• Ideally, the Committee should have a chair person,
a secretary to take notes, and a person responsible
for getting things done in each work area.
IAMAW – William W. Winpisinger Education and Technology Center – Federal Employees Organizing Program
Organizing Committees
LOC Member Profile/Characteristics
1. Ability to listen.
2. Ability to encourage and develop
leadership in others.
3. Ability to be flexible based on the
situation.
4. Willingness to serve as a role model.
5. Impartial treatment of men and women,
people of all races, nationalities, age,
and sexual orientation.
IAMAW – William W. Winpisinger Education and Technology Center – Federal Employees Organizing Program
Organizing Committees
LOC Member Profile/Characteristics
6. Ability to generalize (develop strategy
and tactics) from specific problems of
agency employees.
7. Ability to communicate with co-workers
without arrogance and in a manner that
encourages them to learn more.
8. Confidence and enthusiasm.
9. Discipline and responsibility.
10. Worthy of trust and respect by coworkers.
IAMAW – William W. Winpisinger Education and Technology Center – Federal Employees Organizing Program
Organizing Committees
Recruiting LOC Members
• REMEMBER: People volunteer for their reasons,
NOT yours! Its critically important to understand
what motivates individual members to volunteer.
• One theory of motivation suggests there are five
key motivators when recruiting volunteers
• achievement,
• recognition,
• challenging work,
• increased responsibility, and
• development.
IAMAW – William W. Winpisinger Education and Technology Center – Federal Employees Organizing Program
Organizing Committees
Recruiting LOC Members
• REMEMBER: People volunteer for their reasons,
NOT yours! Its critically important to understand
what motivates individual members to volunteer.
• One theory of motivation suggests there are five
key motivators when recruiting volunteers
• achievement,
• recognition,
• challenging work,
• increased responsibility, and
• development.
IAMAW – William W. Winpisinger Education and Technology Center – Federal Employees Organizing Program
Organizing Committees
Recruiting Members for the LOC
• Three primary approaches to recruiting LOC members:
• mass recruitment (+/-)
• targeted recruitment (+/-)
• inner circle recruitment (+/-)
• When communicating to potential volunteers, it is important to
address the following five issues:
• Need: What is the problem?
• Solution: Can I help?
• Fears/Questions: Can I contribute? Will I get support/help?
• Benefits: What’s in it for me?
• Contact Point: How do I get involved? What steps do I take?
IAMAW – William W. Winpisinger Education and Technology Center – Federal Employees Organizing Program
Organizing Committees
The “Ugly” Reality of the Field
OK, all this stuff sounds good in
the classroom and looks good on
paper, but the reality back home is
VERY different. Creating a viable
Local Organizing Committee back
home just isn’t possible because…
IAMAW – William W. Winpisinger Education and Technology Center – Federal Employees Organizing Program
Organizing Committees
The “Ugly” Reality of the Field
• ASSIGNMENT: Using the blue forms provided, identify and
describe at least five barriers/obstacles to creating a viable
Local Organizing Committee. Please be as detailed and
specific as possible.
• Once you have identified and described the barriers, rank
them in order of significance (label the biggest/most important
barrier 1, the second most important 2, and so on through 5).
• Once you have completed the assignment individually, discuss
your list with the other members of the group, and then create
a top 10 list as a group. Summarize each item on a flip chart
and the green sheet. Have a member of your group prepared
to brief the rest of the class.
• Time:
Individually identify & describe barriers - 15 minutes
Develop & record on the flipchart the top ten list of barriers
– 15 minutes
Group Reports – 15 minutes
IAMAW – William W. Winpisinger Education and Technology Center – Federal Employees Organizing Program